First of all, of course I am excited. I have known from a reliable source for quite some time that he will play europe this fall. I didnt expect less. but the mail from the NPGMC surprised me. do I wanna see an accoustic show, prince all by himself?
my first thought was: hell no! I love the funk too much. I have some of the ONA shows on CD and I have to say that this is some serious shit. finally prince put in a regular gig what he used to only dare to play in nightclub shows: the real funk, lowdown and dirty (take away the explicit lyrics, granted). so now he doesnt wanna take that show to europe, the home of the rare groove and acid jazz movements? I cant believe it! not that I dont like prince alone on guitar and piano. but he can play a set like he did on the ONA tour in the US.
it didnt take me long to realize: prince wants to save money. with no major label backing him up, a trip overseas will get expensive. he will have to charge $150 a show, and unlike in the US people over here wont be spending that much unless they are hardcores. a one-man show, on the other hand, will be the opportunity to keep his promise of touring europe without financial risks.
if that is the case, and I am only guessing, it will be quite disappointing. I want some funk, I want Blackwell on drums, I want bass, and I need some horns to blow me to the backrows. I do not need a strip-down cat-stevens-persiflage, only because mr. p is getting a little cheap.
can you imagine what the soundchecks would be like? I dont think there will be any jams as on ONA with fans sitting in. prince is too imature to invite people on stage when he has nobody to back him up. it will be more like "testing mic, one, two three... turn that guitar up a little... thanks, see you later at the gig!"
tell me if I'm wrong...

soulpower said:

Well it looks like that's what we are going to get. There was a second e-mail from NPGMC with the decision. Haven't you seen it?

KeithyT said:

well, thinking of the NPGMC statement policy that mail you talking about doesnt quite relax me. it is only suggesting, but not telling us: ONA will come to europe. its only saying they have figured that people dig the idea of an accoustic show and that people in the states are diggin it more...

I agree with you. I don't want an acoustic set. But either way, I'm not getting anything cuz he hasn't come to my area and probably won't for some time.

I saw Billy Idol ( ) and I was VERY dissapointed when I learned it was an acoustic set. I want loud guitar, I want horns, I want drums. Fuck Prince and his acoustic set.

Sorry!

soulpower said:

You are right soulpower, I have re-read the e-mail and it is not clear whether the European tour will be ONA (full band) or an all acoustic set. Anyhoo, either way is fine by me.

Yea, Europeans!

But I agree with CarrieLee, I want the noise..


[This message was edited Fri Aug 9 7:20:46 PDT 2002 by sag10]

sag10 said:

Get those dang emoticons right Sag!!!

soulpower said:

that would be too funny...

CarrieLee said:

Fucker! You don't miss a thing...it was gonna be

Carrie:whofarted:Lee but the emoticon didn't work.

Why are you being so negative?? He's coming isn't he? What's the problem?!

You're making wild assumptions that it's just gonna be Prince sat on a stool with a guitar for the whole show. No NPG band, just him but where does it say that will definitely happen? Not in the email he sent me that's for sure.

If/when he comes over I think there is every possibilty it will be a One Nite Alone show or maybe part acoustic set with just Prince and then the second half of the show with the full band; Rhonda, John, Renato, horns etc.

Be more positive It's gonna be cool

soulpower said:

sag10 said:

I do see your point about the finances, of course and I agree that I don't think he'll get away with charging $100-150 per ticket. Not over here, uh uh..

CarrieLee said:

That was exactly what I was thinking. Give me the boom any day. I want a SHOW, not a side act.

maybe he's just trying to please some of his fans?...After the response he got from the accoustic set he did at xenophobia maybe he's thinking: "ok, i've never done that before. How about I try do take it on the road..." or maybe he's finally listening to Alan Leeds who said a while back that people would be completely blown away if he did a tour where he would be alone on the piano (or guitar)

Being in Europe (Paris actually) I'm just really excited that he's coming around to see us but what I'd really like would be for Prince to do the regular ONA show and then during the aftershow an accoustic set (If he wants he can even do it the other way around but Just do it!!)

Soulpower said:
"I want some funk, I want Blackwell on drums, I want bass, and I need some horns to blow me to the backrows. I do not need a strip-down cat-stevens-persiflage, only because mr. p is getting a little cheap."

Exactly, I want a full band experience. I don't mind an acoustic set for half an hour or so, but please Prince:

Give me the FUNK!!!

First, of course I see you are happy that he is at least coming over to perform.
And I see your point about not knowing what kind of show it would be...

But that IS the point...

he asked for some feedback and replied with the confirmation that the 2002 worldtour will continue, in Europe first...

and... that many US fans would like to see an acoustic set.

nothing else really...
so anything can happen

and I don't think he will tell before they really get here.

which is

wait for the surprises soulpower!

ps.

money should not be a problem. take a look at how Maceo does it.

I don't want to seem ungrateful (of course I want a tour), but it does sound like a cost saving plan.

I would love an all acoustic set, but only if he plays tiny venues i.e. 200 to 800 people max.

Something like the mean fiddler is fine, but if he tries playing somewhere like the Hammersmith odeon with an accoustic set, it will be ruined.

He should cover several major cities in the uk, doing one night in each. At the very least I would expect London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast.

But I bet its a whistle stop tour, touching down in London for a night before he's off to Paris.

"World tour" is going to mean a lot of different things to a lot of people over the coming months.

I think it will be a unique and rare opportunity to witness Prince in an acoustic setting.

It will be a real showcase for his talents.

soulpower said:

In general I agree with you, BUT, I don't know what maturity has to do with inviting people onstage. AND, since what exact type of show he's going to end up taking to Europe isn't set in stone yet, it's hard for me to form a complete opinion. Prince can be wishy-washy. He'll want to do something specifically, let word leak that it's what he wants to do, then all of a sudden out of the blue change his mind about certain aspects or just change his mind altogether.

I'm hoping he takes the full-blown bug out to Europe for you guys. Personally, I think it would help more than hurt in the long run. But I don't know that for a fact.